Jingle Bells & Christmas Spells
by CretianStar
Summary: Variety of Christmas themed fics. There might be 24, there might not. Who knows? (No requests being taken, sorry!) Now complete.
1. Advent

A/N: So this was going to be an advent story with all 24 being posted in the run up to Christmas but I missed the first so this will just be Christmas themed!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Advent**

"Hey E!" Mal's voice echoed through the house and Mal soon heard Evie calling back to her from the sitting room.

"Morning Mal!" The voice from the other side of the door chirruped.

"E! I've got to tell you about the most amazing…thing…hmmm." Mal fell silent at the sight of her bestie surrounded by boxes. "So you already know about advent calendars then?" She guessed haphazardly at the range of products scattered around the room.

"Yes! Doug got me a beauty one and aren't they amazing!" She squeaked. "I'm only allowed to open one door a day which I thought was incredibly mean so I went out to buy more so I can open more doors each day!" Evie said, excitement shining from her eyes.

"Did you get a chocolate one?" Mal raised a brow and Evie's face fell slightly.

"They do chocolate advent calendars?" She frowned down at her mass of purchases, knowing she did not have a chocolate one in the bundle.

"Yup, wanna go and get one, or two, or three?"

"Maybe four, I should buy one for Doug." Evie sighed, extracting herself from the pile of stuff she had already opened for the first of December.

When the pair came back, Mal moved aside one make-up advent calendar to sit herself down while Evie excitedly chattered through her new goodies.

"I got foundation from these three, I got a body scrub from the green one, there was a small eyeshadow out of … oh I think it was the pink one you're sat next to. I got this adorable Christmas tree that I had to build out of the bricks that came behind the door." Evie grinned as she held up the tree and placed it carefully back down on the table. "Oh I got some tea bags in this one." Evie held up the box as Mal smiled wryly at her best friend. Evie's life motto was definitely _go big or go home_. Doug would undoubtedly despair at his dearly beloved when he walked in. "Oh and I got this gorgeous smelling candle, catch!" Evie lobbed a red object at Mal who barely caught it before it thwacked her in the head.

"E… you have so much. What are you going to do with it all?" Mal took a deep inhale of a candle that proclaimed to be called _Christmas Cookie_. Smelt nothing like her cookies.

"I'm going to use it?" Evie said as if it explained everything.

"Not even you can use three foundations in one hit, and you're only on day one!"

"Don't be such a scrooge." Evie said primly as she started to stack up her calendars and put her goodies in a basket.

"Such a what?" Mal frowned.

"A Scrooge. It's something Doug called me when I refused to get into the Christmas spirit."

"Riiight…. And what is Doug going to say to this?" Mal asked at the fifteen stacked calendars and Evie shrugged.

"He can't call me a Scrooge again." She grinned. "In answer to your first question. There are items that I won't use that I can always pay forward. I might even send them back to mom on the Isle, you know how crazy she was about makeup."

"I know where you get it from." Mal said drily, neatly ducking the pillow Evie launched at her.

"Honey I'm Hi-Hoooome." A voice called from the hall and Mal sat back against her chair to watch the mini domestic unfurl. "Evie, what have you bought?" Doug appeared in the doorway and looked at his guilty girlfriend's face, giving a quick wave to Mal who waved back.

"I bought… a chocolate advent calendar for you and a beauty one!" She grinned innocently and Doug leant around her to see the rest of the calendars.

"Did you also buy three hundred for yourself?"

"Not that many!"

"No but close."

"You told me I wasn't getting into the Christmas spirit!" She pouted and Doug laughed.

"Touché, no way where did the little Christmas tree come from?!" Doug gaped, dumping his bag and cradling the Lego tree.

"From one of the calendars." Evie shrugged.

"That one's mine as well." He dibsed, much to Evie's outrage.

"I like that one!"

"We can share it. I'll do the even numbered days, you can do the odd." Doug rifled through the calendars until he found the right one.

"Says who?" Evie grumbled.

"Says me, otherwise you're a big old grinch." He pecked her on the nose and it was at this point, Mal decided to make her escape.


	2. Dear Santa

A/N: I have a fair few chapters for this now waiting in the wings, so there might actually be a daily upload. Who knows? Maybe not, it's my birthday on the 7th so probably not then!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Letters to Santa**

"Have you seen what Isabella wants this year?" Jane mused as she sat beside Carlos, throwing her legs over his.

"Hmm?" Carlos looked up from his laptop at his wife's appearance and frowned in confusion.

"Izzy's list to Santa is somewhat lengthy."

"When did she write it?"

"The other night, and read it out loud to me to ensure there was nothing missed off." Jane grinned, grabbing her cocoa from the table.

"Go ahead, tell me what our cherub wants this year."

"She requested, leather gloves like Daddy, hair accessories like Mummy including the sparkly blue bow that can be worn above the ear, she wanted a sketch book like Auntie Evie, with colouring pencils... that was quite specific." Jane took a sip as Carlos smiled. "Then there was a chemistry set but a small one, so she could be the same as Uncle Doug. She wanted a tiara like Mal's but with a topaz not the big purple stone Auntie Mal has. She asked for a big book like Uncle King Ben has, I imagine that will be the daily planner he carries _everywhere_ with him, and then there was the staff sticks that Auntie Lonnie and Uncle Jay use, but please can she have them a little bit smaller as they are too heavy for her."

"Anyone else?"

"Can she have a wand like Granny Godmother, and as standard, a pony." Jane finished up, softly laughing at the list that her six year old daughter had written.

"Well I think Santa will be nice to Iz this year, she's been a pretty good girl." Carlos absently stroked his wife's leg as he ran over the list mentally.

"Other than when she punched Audrey's little girl, yes I think she has been a good girl." Jane said drily.

"She was standing up for herself!" Carlos protested, the pair had argued over their daughter's behaviour towards Madison Charming, and while both agreed that it was right that Isabella had stood up for herself in the face of bullying Jane had wished it had been with her words rather than her fists.

"Yes, yes. But she is the granddaughter of a headmistress and the daughter of the Language & Literature Professor at Auradonia University." Jane said with a sigh.

"I'm glad Santa thinks I've been a good girl, and I said sorry to Madison. Even though she said I was a half breed because Daddy wasn't born here, I still said sorry like Mrs Nelson wanted me to. Auntie Lonnie said that we should never use our fists in anger, as anger clouds the judgement and lets stupid people win." A quiet voice made both parents turn to see their daughter stood on the stairs looking hesitant.

"What are you doing up baby girl?" Carlos was the first to stand.

"There's a monster under the bed, and no matter how much I use my words it won't go away. So can you use the monster spray please daddy?" Isabella's voice wobbled a little bit, but Carlos soon scooped her up in his arms as he climbed the stairs and Jane smiled as she heard his soft patter of speech, soothing their daughter as he promised to spray away the monsters.

Grabbing her husband's laptop from where he had abandoned it, she flicked through the list he had created while she had recited Izzy's letter to Santa and smiled again; Carlos had written notes next to each item as to where they might be able to get what she wanted in case Santa didn't quite get it right this year. Sighing softly, Jane picked up her own writing and set to finish her letter to Mr and Mrs Charming about the behaviour of their not-so-charming daughter.


	3. Mince Pies

A/N: This is only a short little snaffle but Mince Pies!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Mince Pies**

"What are you eating?" Jay nabbed the food from Carlos' plate before the smaller boy could protest, some things would never change.

"Mince pies? Queen Belle gave Mal a Christmas recipe book and she's been working her way through it trying out different recipes." Carlos shrugged and Jay quickly grabbed another.

"These are great! Do you think she'll make more of them?"

"Maybe? She was working her way through the recipes, she'd already tried out different jellies and candying different fruits, so who knows what will be next?" Carlos ate the last pie before Jay could snaffle it from his plate.

"Mal's really into this whole baking thing!"

"She really is." Ben came in, rubbing his stomach and looking faintly green. "She's making a whole load of desserts; there's cinnamon stars, a gateaux, a pavlova, Stollen cake and fruit cake."

"Ah, music to Jay's ears." Carlos grinned as Jay bolted for the door, heading for the kitchens.

"Good, let her test all the recipes on him, I feel so sick. I've eaten way too much, though the candied oranges were amazing." Ben said blissfully, rubbing a rather bloated stomach with a mixture of contentment and nausea.


	4. Dinner

A/N: Sprouts are always a contentious issue and I like them even if no-one else does.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Dinner**

"So you've never had Christmas before?" Doug pushed his glasses up his nose as Evie shook her head.

"Not really, we might get a taste of it _after_ you guys, but that's only because your scrappage rolled through the Isle. Lot of sprouts came our way which were amazing. I loved the New Year, we'd get Sprout everything; coffee, cake, pies…mmm sprouts." Evie reminisced, much to the horror of her beau.

"You _like_ sprouts." He stated, flabbergasted.

"Oh, we talking about sprouts?" The voice at the door sounded just as enthusiastic as Evie did. Jay was practically dribbling at the thought of sprouts. "Hey E, do you reckon we can recreate one of the Gastons' recipes for their Toasted Sprout Sandwiches?" Jay smiled at the memory of those amazing seasonal sandwiches.

"Stop!" Doug was aghast at the pair before him, and was thankfully joined by the rest of the gang, before they could carry on.

"What's going on?" Ben flumped down on the sofa, his head reeling with numbers that had been blasted at him in the last Treasury meeting.

"Sprouts." Doug pleaded with Ben who grimaced at the nasty addition to Christmas dinner.

"What, you don't like sprouts?" Mal turned towards him in shock.

"You do?!" There was now a clear seating boundary between the Auradonians and their Isle counterparts.

"Who doesn't love sprouts?" Carlos seemed confused at the abject terror displayed on Jane's face.

"They're nasty green balls of horror, a barrier between myself and dessert until I ate every last one of the little buggers." Jane shuddered.

"They're delicious, you can do so much with them!" Carlos explained. "Sprout mash was a pretty good staple."

"Stop. Talking." Doug begged, feeling nauseated. "Everything you've already listed has made my stomach roll – sandwiches, pies, mash… cake?! Coffee?!" He was astounded.

"Darling, our Christmas Dinner would usually consist of Spider Soup, maybe Mould or Mildew Slops, mildew if it was particularly special. The fish and cheese were usually unidentifiable but they came from Auradon so it can't have been that bad and almost each course would have a variation of a sprout side dish. It was great! It was the one time of the year that us four would spend together and we'd cook. It was usually either at mine or Carlos' because we'd have bigger space and we could always foist old EQ off to Maleficent and the two would keep each other amused by terrorising Mal's neighbours." Evie smiled as she recalled the few Christmases they'd spent with one another on the Island.

"Yeah, that was great… the year we made sprout coffee was pretty amazing." Jay sighed, ignoring Lonnie's noise of disgust.

"I don't want to ask, but I'm going to…." Ben sighed. "How do you make sprout coffee?"

"Dry them down and grind the dry parts. We used to use Ginger's oven." Mal said with a shrug.

"Ginger?" Jane frowned.

"Gingerbread witch." Carlos supplied. "The foe of Hansel and Gretel?"

"Ah…"

"How are you alive?!" Doug exclaimed suddenly. "Mildew and mould slops, spider soup? Fish and cheese courses that must have spent days on the garbage boats?!"

"Darling, the Isle is a very different place." Evie smiled. "The food here took us a while to get used to, and there are days when I miss the crabcakes from Ursula's place. Though I doubt there are any crabs in there at all." She rested her hand on Doug's arm as he became more agitated.

"Do you know what I miss? We used to go and get them at Christmas as well, the Red Queen teas, I loved the Villainy flavour." Carlos said excitedly.

"Oh! Those!" Mal exclaimed. "Mine was undoubtedly Sinner's Soul. That had a bite to it unlike anything I have ever drank!"

"Puh-lease. The best was Thieves Honour." Jay scoffed.

"Nu-uh, it was Rot&Decay. That used to wake me up in the morning." Evie interjected, the four now squabbling as their other halves, with a mixture of horror, amusement and bemusement stared at them.

"Ben." Jane tugged on the King's sleeve to whisper in his ear. "How do you think they're going to cope with their first Christmas dinner this year?"

"Badly." Ben shook his head and sighed, adding another point to his mental check list.

 _Food rations to the Isle._


	5. Celebration

A/N: This idea was based on the idea of a Royal Christmas oarty.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Celebration**

The rich plum shade was darker than Mal was used to but Evie promised that it would suit the evening. Her dress was a rich vibrant blue, almost Auradonian, but too much of an Evie colour to be considered the Royally Approved Blue.

"Do I look okay?" Mal said nervously while Evie smoothed the last wrinkle from the fabric.

"You look beautiful Lady Mal." Evie bowed her head with a wink. "Besides, tonight isn't about you, it's about Christmas and this party isn't about Ben and you, it's about Belle and the Beast." Evie had a rather frank way of soothing her friend's nerves, but luckily it worked and Evie watched most of the tension leave Mal's body.

"Are you ready girls?" Jay knocked on the open door and wolf whistled at the pair.

"Mal, Evie you both look beautiful!" Lonnie grinned from Jay's side.

"So do you." Evie was the first to notice Lonnie's outfit. "This is amazing!"

"It's a mixture of two dresses, etiquette dictates I should wear the Diyi but it's a bit too flowy for dancing, so I've sort of mixed with a cheongsam to help me move around a bit." Lonnie shrugged, blushing a little.

"Hey, are we late?" Jane came tearing up the corridor, a feat that would forever amaze Carlos as he gaped at the size of her heels.

"Not at all, we just need Ben and Doug, but they said they'd meet us at the door." Mal smiled and the six trooped through the maze of corridors in Beasts castle until they reached the door to the ballroom already buzzing with life and merriment.

"Should we go in? Ben and Doug aren't here yet?" Evie used the advantage of her height to scout for her errant other half in the mill of people, most of whom were filing into the ballroom, and she squeaked when two arms wrapped around her waist.

"Merry Christmas." The voice made her turn and smile, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips, and only she heard the slight noise he still made when they kissed.

"Lady Mal." Doug had to adjust his glasses after Evie released him, and was desperately trying ignore the flush in his cheeks as he turned to the purple haired girl. "King Ben has requested that you wait here while we're all announced, he'll be with you shortly." He shrugged as Mal sighed.

"Great. He can just leave me here on my own. Excellent." Mal griped as Doug apologised. "Not your fault, he just likes to make a big scene sometimes." She waved away their concerns and let them all move into the ballroom, feeling awkward as she stood alone in the doorway, quickly moving out of eyesight of the announcer.

"Hey." The soft voice to her left made her turn and she quirked one eyebrow.

"Hi."

"You look amazing, Evie always knows what colours work best." Ben said wryly. "Come here." He held out a hand and slowly Mal placed hers in his, surprised as he pulled her away from the main doorway and up a staircase.

"Ben! Aren't we going in?" Mal huffed as she managed the stairs in the half darkness of the passageway.

"Yes, but through the side door because I know you don't like big entrances. But first we're going up and I want you to see the ballroom from up here." Ben chattered as he dragged her upwards.

"You couldn't have told me before I put heels on that we were scaling mountains?!" Mal puffed, tugging her hand free so she could slow down a bit.

"Sorry!" Ben apologised and hurried back down the steps. "We're almost there." He pushed open a doorway hesitantly and instantly got hit in the face with a pine branch. "Ow. Lumiere did a damn good job." He griped but Mal was too busy laughing breathlessly.

"What are we doing Ben?" She edged onto the balcony with him, manoeuvring past the richly decorated evergreen to stare down at the scene before her. "Oh…" She fell silent at the ballroom, it was beautiful.

There were thick evergreen garlands banded across the ceiling and walls, each festooned with flowers and ribbons. Each garland had a different colour; some blue, some gold, some red, some silver. There were thick wreaths of holly festooned with red berries hanging from the walls, and over doorways were clumps of mistletoe, many partygoers stood beneath them for the excuse to kiss, she spied Lonnie and Jay standing beneath one for quite some time. The main electric lights has been foregone for softer lights and candles, the old candlebra had been pulled lower from its usual lofty heights and there was a rousing noise of cheering, laughter and music as it drifted up to Ben and Mal, cloistered away in their hiding place.

"When I was little I wasn't always allowed to go to the balls. Other parents didn't let their children go so mum and dad told me it wasn't fair if I did so I went to bed. But every year I came up here and just watched the party until I felt sleepy and then I would make my way back to my room, I would always stay to see my parents dance though, that had to happen. Then once I was old enough to join in and stay up late I would still come up here at one point in the night, just for old times sake, now I wanted to share that with you." Ben said shyly and Mal cupped his cheek in her hand and pulled him nearer for a kiss.

"This is absolutely beautiful and I am glad you brought me up here, despite those steps." She teased lightly and Ben kissed her back. "Evie's getting worried, she's doing that thing with her hands." She mused softly and the pair cautiously looked down, searching out the blue clad figure who was indeed doing that thing with her hands and they reluctantly departed from their secluded spot.

True to his word, Ben and Mal slipped in through a side door and made their way to his parents to quietly announce their entrance before circulating through the party. They stood politely to the side as Belle and Adam took their places in the centre of the room for their first dance, and Ben encouraged a very nervous Mal to the dance floor when the second waltz began.

"See, Christmas parties aren't so bad." Ben whispered as they twirled.

"Shush I am trying to count my steps."


	6. Gingerbread Magic

A/N: This is another short little one shot, but I got Mrs Beeton's Christmas book and kind of excited so this nugget happened!

Enjoy!

* * *

Mal was pretty damn proud of her gingerbread. Despite the rather nefarious start to her baking career she realised she was actually a dab hand at making sweet treats and she enjoyed her time in the kitchen kneading and shaping and crafting different biscuits and cakes. Even Audrey admitted that her syllabub was uncontested, and her chocolate cake was a sure fire way to perk up Ben's spirits when the kingdom was being particularly trying.

Her Christmas baking was nothing short of amazing. She was particularly proud of her gingerbread figures. It had taken a lot of work on her part, even going so far as to create her own moulds, but she did it and now lined up neatly on their sheets were several figures mimicking her friends and classmates. She had even managed to bake them without them exploding in size which her previous batch had done – the shapeless lumps becoming a biscuit base to her cheesecake. As she added the final touch of icing to the cookie shaped like FG she stepped back and smiled.

Turning up the radio which blasted out Christmas music, Mal finally understood what it was about Christmas that had Evie in a flutter for the last two weeks… something about Christmas, on its own was just _magical._


	7. Gifts

A/N: Christmas does reach the Isle right? In its own twisted way.

Enjoy this Tremaine centric!

* * *

 _Dear Mom,_

 _Merry Christmas, I hope you are okay on the Isle. Anastasia says hi and she has included her Christmas present with mine._

 _I've settled into school okay, the classes are incredibly different, I won't bore or horrify you with the details but the reason this letter should actually make it to you is because the IAAlliance have allowed Christmas Alms this year; apparently the horror stories our childhoods food wise has prompted the uppers of Auradon Council to act._

 _Anyway! Enough boring stuff!_

 _Merry Christmas Mom._

 _Love_

 _Dizzy._

The letter made an unidentifiable emotion well up in Drizella's heart. It was a tenderness for her youngest daughter, the daughter that had abandoned her evil roots for the glamour of Auradon, Drizella hardly begrudged her this, she'd have done a runner from the Isle if it wasn't for her mother. Lady Tremaine would never be allowed back into Auradon. She had already turned her nose up at the parcels sent back by her mutinous daughter and granddaughter and stormed away but the other Tremaines' had cautiously approached Drizella.

Dizzy had sent back a mountain of ribbons and bows, in a number of shades and sizes, all for her sisters that now argued over the presents and who would suit aquamarine more. There were also a number of carefully boxed cupcakes, each with a name piped on them, which sent the sisters into a meltdown as they eagerly snatched up the vanilla or chocolate cakes. For Drizella there was perfume, a thick woollen cloak, new boots and a small leather journal, blank, from Anastasia was a red velvet cake, which caused a fight between mother and eldest daughter when the latter tried to steal it, with little success. For Grandmother there was another pair of boots, more ornate than Drizella's, and a black cloak lined with fake fur that would keep her warm, if she accepted the gift. From Anastasia to her mother there was a letter. For Lucifer there was a new blanket, which the cat was already sat on, curled up by the stove, his old age wearing on him as much as it did his mistress.

Leaving her daughters to fight over the crumbs, Drizella took the gifts up to her room and her mother's. She found Lady Tremaine in her bedroom, staring out of the window and as she quietly padded in the older woman didn't move. Depositing the boots, the cloak and the letter on the bed before turning back to her own room.

Drizella didn't see Lady Tremaine run her fingers over the cloak, nor examine the boots. She didn't know that Lady Tremaine was actually impressed with her youngest granddaughter's style, maybe it was Anastasia that had chosen them. She stared balefully at the letter, knowing that it would cause feelings that she didn't want to deal with. She was too old for such sentiments, and after so long, Lady Tremaine was exhausted. Picking up the cloak, part of her spitefully wanted to throw it in the fire downstairs, but the more rational part of her, that took notice of the aches in her feet and her arthritis decided to store the boots and cloak safely away, ready for when the worst part of the winter came in February.

Drizella didn't see the letter her errant sister had sent their mother, all she knew was that Lady Tremaine was very quiet for the remaining winter, and she never bad mouthed Anastasia once over the Christmas period.


	8. Mulled Wine

A/N: Drunk Lonnie. Need I say more?

Enjoy!

* * *

"You were just going for one glass of mulled wine?" Jay made a noise as he just managed to catch Lonnie when she launched herself at him.

"One…twooooooo, threeeeeeeee who knows how many I had?" She looped her hands around the nape of his neck and nuzzled closer. "It was very tasty. I must admit that Audrey does know how to throw a party." Lonnie smiled dreamily as the wine sloshed around her system.

"What did you get up to then?" Jay asked with a laugh.

"We did Christmas games, like Charades and Pictionary. Then we bobbed for apples…"

"Isn't that Halloween?"

"They were caramel apples and were _amazing!_ Then we made mulled wine…"

"Which you then drank most of, are the others as bad as you are right now?" Jay said drily as managed to manoeuvre her to the car.

"Maybe, don't know. Think we carried Audrey to bed…?" She squinted into the distance trying to remember, but got distracted. "Do you want to know a secret?" She mock whispered and Jay had to laugh; drunk Lonnie was a sight he rarely got to see as she was always well and truly in control of herself.

"I always want to know secrets." He answered half seriously.

"I love you." She giggled and suddenly wriggled in his grasp.

"I love you too, woman stay still."

"Want to walk." She pouted.

"We are almost at the car, just hold still for two minutes and then you'll be in the car, deal?" Jay almost dropped her but thankfully she desisted her attempts of escape and nodded.

"Deal. Jay, look at the stars." She suddenly smacked him on the arm and even though his hand hovered over the car door, Jay sighed and obliged his intoxicated girlfriend, and was glad he did. The skies were bursting with stars, the crisp clear night making them shine all the more brighter and Jay smiled softly.

"I love you Lonnie." He murmured and laughed when she turned to him with the biggest grin on her face.

"It always makes me so happy when you say that. Merry Christmas Jay."

"Merry Christmas Lonnie, now shall we go home and put you to bed so you don't have a hangover for Christmas Eve?"

"Yes please. Oh and Jay?"

"Yes?" He sighed as he managed to angle her into the car.

"Can we make some mulled wine for Christmas?"

"Maybe, we'll see how much of this you remember tomorrow."


	9. Alms

A/N: I don't really have a note! I am buzzing like a kid on Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas!

Isle themed again, enjoy!

* * *

 **Alms**

"You do know that the people of the Isle are not going to appreciate you rocking up with a traitor to the Isle and handing out gifts. They'll mug you faster than you can say free gingerbread." Mal didn't look up from her book as Ben moved around the study, planning things.

"What do you mean?" He was temporarily stymied by her words, and stopped to stare at his girlfriend.

"We resented getting your rubbish…"

"Hence why I'm ensuring proper gifts and food are sent." Ben explained.

"Because it came from the people that imprisoned us." Mal finished, and Ben grunted. "Santa Claus didn't visit us for the first eighteen years of my life, and certainly not for the twenty odd the villains were bundled onto the Isle. Suddenly there's a bunch of kids taken to Auradon and in return Santa starts to visit?" Mal snorted a laugh and Ben flopped on the sofa beside her.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Ben groaned, leaning against her knees as he sat by her feet.

"Ow, just raise living conditions all year round, not give them a Christmas bonus." Mal looked at him expectantly and Ben sighed.

"You make it sound so easy."

"To ensure people are fed and clothed properly?"

"Sarcasm is not necessary." Ben grumped and Mal peered over her knees to look at his rather downcast "kicked puppy" look.

"Just send some alms through on the garbage boats as normal, and then send others via the Golden Bridge."

"But you just said…"

"They would notice if the garbage is suddenly a lot richer, and that the clothes thrown out are almost new and thick, and woollen." Mal explained softly. "If you make a heaping, shining pile of presents in the town squares, they are less likely to pick up on the good quality of the rubbish rolling through the back doors."

"Makes sense." Ben nodded with her logic.

"Do you know what also makes sense, you giving me a leg massage after I spent three hours working out how to wear those abominable high heels." Mal grinned and Ben sighed but duly rubbed away the tension in his darling girlfriend's calves.

~Isle~

"So what, we are supposed to be thankful that her Royal Lowness Princess Mal has seen fit to send us worthless items." One Tremaine sister spat as the small crowd glared at the pile of presents; soft clothes and blankets, an array of toys for the youngest residents, heavy soled boots with socks stuffed inside and other such luxuries were sneered at by the small group.

"Who does she think she is? Merry little witch, she'd never survive a day back on the Isle if this is what she deals with now." The second sister growled.

They abandoned the pile, expecting the youngest in their families to filch the necessary items when others were not looking and they all went on their separate ways.

"The garbage boats came in today and you won't believe what I found!?" The first Tremaine said to the second.

"Do tell Arabella."

"A skirt, with only two tears in it, it's in the most amazing shade of green, honestly it's like it's made for me."


	10. Wrapping

A/N: Back to work, and I've almost run out of pre-written stories D:. This might be the last, we shall have to see if the Christmas Muse will grace me with more works to upload.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Wrapping**

Jay did not like wrapping presents.

In all of his life he hated wrapping things up neatly and primly. On the Isle it hadn't been such a big deal, but in Auradon the wrapping was a nightmare. Especially because you were _supposed_ to wrap things neatly and primly.

Therefore he hated Christmas.

His first Christmas has been a disaster; the other VKs hadn't minded his poorly wrapped offerings, and the Auradonians had been polite enough, but he could sense their discomfort. Thank Hell Hall he had only offered presents to Lonnie, Jane, Ben & Doug. He dreaded to think what Audrey, Chad or the other nobles would have made of his wrapping. The presents themselves were thoughtful and well-chosen and despite the protests that he didn't do 'girl-time' he clearly listened to his friends a lot.

This was his fourth Christmas in Auradon and he was dreading wrapping presents. If he was to admit anything, it was usually that he rushed the wrapping and to alleviate this problem, he took a whole afternoon from studying, practice or anything and focused solely on the gifts in front of him and what felt like a whole shop's worth of wrapping paper.

Two hours and several internet tutorials later, Jay sat back to admire Evie's present. It had been a rather unwieldy round palette of make-up and after thinking things through carefully, he found a square box which snugly fit the palette before filling the box with tissue and wrapping that instead of the blasted circular present. He was even proud of his slightly lopsided bow on the top. Okay, Carlos next.

Six hours later, when Carlos came in to find Jay (it was unusual for the gannet to have missed dinner and Carlos was a little worried that the hulking sportsman might have been ill…or kidnapped), Carlos instead found Jay fast asleep in a nest of wrapping paper and tape. There was a ribbon wrapped around one wrist and a bow tangled in his hair. But in front of his bed sat a small pile of perfectly wrapped presents and Carlos couldn't help but smile. Resolving that he would never be able to move to wall of muscle on his own, Carlos scampered off to find Lonnie and Ben, and between the three of them they managed to manoeuver an almost comatose Jay into his bed. Lonnie and Carlos were quick to move the rubbish and extra packing papers to the desk and to leave the room, closing the door softly with a snick.

When it came to Christmas morning, beneath the tree sat such beautifully wrapped presents that everyone thought Audrey must have offered them up. Instead Jay sat rather proudly, basking in the surprise and attention of his friends while they unwrapped his carefully prepared and his carefully chosen presents. There was the palette for Evie, new Tourney gloves for Ben, a new collar for Dude, with tennis balls. For Mal he had managed to get a recipe book from Agrabah, for Doug he had sourced two ancient volumes on alchemy, (that had been a hard gift, he knew they were back on the Isle having seen them in his father's shop before his departure and it had taken a lot of red tape to get back there), for Jane he had been a little bit stumped but he finally settled on a form of diary that was oh so slightly magical. This gift meant that he had to pull in a few favours from the Genie, because it was book that once paired with its owner would be able to help to them plan and organise _anything._ For Carlos,Jay's gift looked to the others, a bunch of wires and a tangled mess of just stuff. But to Carlos it was heaven; the mess before him would patch different circuits he'd been working on, he could repair parts of his 3D printer that had been bothering him and he was ecstatic at the gift. Finally for Lonnie, Jay had found a new pair of training shoes and a hooded sweatshirt with the word _Coach_ emblazoned on the back, to congratulate her on her new position as the new Tourney Coach at the Imperial Academy.

Much later in the evening, with food bloating their stomachs and wine fogging their minds, Jay was surprised to feel Lonnie lean closer to him so her head rested on his shoulder.

"Thank you." She murmured, moving so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"You're welcome, you're head coach, you deserve the recognition." Jay smiled down at her.

"Well, yes thank you for the present, but thank you for putting the effort into wrap them. I know how much effort you went to for it." She smiled back.

"Ah, you put me to bed." Jay chuckled a little. "I didn't think Carlos would have managed it on his own."

"Yeah he didn't have a hope." Lonnie laughed.


	11. Seasonal Fatigue

A/N: Even the Queen of Shopping is no match for Christmas & a rather large family.

* * *

 **Seasonal Fatigue**

"Have we got everything?" Evie whined. Her feet were aching, and while she'd prepped herself for Christmas shopping, she hadn't prepped herself for her boyfriend's stamina…or the shopping involved for his extended family. Seven uncles was a lot, seven aunts more so and there was a multitude of offspring now.

"Not quite, we've got Harold to buy for, then we have to buy for Bash's daughters; Bertie, Betty and Bathilda." Evie winced, feeling the ache in her shoulders at the number of bags in her hands, over her shoulders, crisscrossed on her back. She was positively exhausted and could think of nothing more than a comfortable carriage home, then cocoa and dinner. Instead she was heading towards a sport shop for Cousin Harold, then an Art Supply shop for twins Bertie and Betty, and finally a shoe shop for Bathilda.

Evie sagged into the carriage chair. She never thought she would find someone who could out-shop her but Doug with his multitude of relatives had managed it. She was officially wiped out and she had muscles she never knew could actually ache the way they did now. When they finally got home, Doug's purchases took up so much room that he had to store some in a lockable classroom he had begged from FG. Evie's modest little pile looked small in comparison.

"What did you get in the end?" Doug flumped onto her bed and rifled through the presents, until Evie slapped his hand away.

"There's yours in there as well, so nose out of those bags mister."

"My bad, but really who did you buy for?" Doug adjusted his glasses, grabbed Evie's physics work (her weakest science) and began adding annotations to help her.

"You, Mal, Ben, Lonnie, Dizzy, Carlos, Jay, Dude, Jane, Godmother, Snow, and my mother." Evie listed off, mentally checking her purchases to ensure she hadn't missed anyone.

"Snow?"

"She's my step sister." Evie shrugged and Doug nodded.

"Your mother?"

"I can't just abandon her. I know Jay has no wish to send anything to his father, and Carlos is thinking to send his mother back something and obviously Mal just puts some more food in her mother's tank, but I feel sorry for mom sometimes." Evie gabbled and Doug still nodded. "She is the Evil Queen but stuck on that Isle with nothing that makes her happy, nothing at all made her a little cuckoo. I am sending her two small palettes of new make-up, a small hand mirror and a thick cloak." Evie shrugged and Doug smiled.

"Sounds like good set of gifts to send." He watched Evie relax and she nodded as well. When he opened his mouth again, she interrupted.

"We are not listing through your gifts. I can barely remember all of your cousins; Uncle Happy has one son, two daughters, Bashful has three daughters, Sneezy has four sons, you have two brothers and one sister, Doc has four daughters, three sons, Grumpy has one daughter, five sons, and Sleepy has five daughters." Evie recited.

"Nicely remembered." Doug said drily. "Want to help me wrap the presents?" He wheedled.

"Not for all the cocoa in the world." Evie said primly and Doug sighed. "I'm also never coming shopping with you again, I'm doing it online next year."


	12. The Merits of Online

A/N: This is a short little piece, I was going to extend it out but it felt wishy-washy and unnecessary longer so snappy little one instead.

Santa is soooo close now!

* * *

 **The Merits of Online**

He had never seen Jane look so murderous. In fact he was almost alarmed when she came storming through the door, shedding her coat, hat, scarf, and gloves as if they had personally offended her. She dropped numerous bags in the hallways, strode through to the lounge and sat down on the sofa glaring viciously at the TV.

"Are you okay?" Carlos said tentatively.

"Don't even." She held up on finger to silence him, and he duly fell quiet until his fairy had sufficiently calmed enough to have a conversation. Instead of trying to start a conversation, quietly he picked up her coat and other articles of clothing from the floor and hung them up in the right places. He flicked the kettle on, and was soon serving hot chocolate which she gratefully accepted before launching her tirade against Christmas shoppers and how December seems to addle people's minds and make them stupid and slow and moronic and dull witted. Eventually, and it took a great deal of time and agreeing with her, Carlos was able to calm his Jane down, and she finally curled up against him, buried her head against his chest and huffed out one slightly angry breath.

"You'll have to come in with me next time." She muttered against his stomach.

"I don't need to, I've done all of mine online." Carlos said absently, and as the last word left his mouth he knew he would be at receiving end of a death glare… which he duly was.

"Yeah, of course you have." Jane hissed and she snuggled back down into his chest. "You're cooking tonight." She bit out.


	13. Mistletoe

A/N: Okay penultimate chapter and its Janelos (again)

Merry Christmas!

* * *

 **Mistletoe**

"Mom, what are you doing?" Jane looked at the mistletoe bunch hanging over the door.

"Getting into the Christmas spirit." FG smiled as she waved her wand over the little bushel.

"With your wand?" Jane narrowed her eyes and FG just grinned back at her suspicious daughter. "You never use magic anymore."

"If there is something I have realised, it's that magic has to be looked after, it cannot be retired so I might as well keep myself fit magic wise." FG shrugged. "It also means your Godmother training starts in the New Year." With that, Fairy Godmother swished away down the hall, hanging more mistletoe and enchanting it with her wand, leaving her daughter to stare open mouthed after her.

The extent of Godmother's magic became clear when classes piled out after the final bell. Suddenly students found themselves facing one another, trapped beneath bubbles of magic until the customary kiss happened. It took the first fifteen minutes of being trapped for students to work out what was going on, but as FG buzzed down the corridors with excitement, she explained softly to Ben that students would only be trapped with the right people, it wasn't quite infused with True Love, but it was pretty damn close and there were many blushes and sappy smiles from students newly released from the magic.

Jane watched in a mixture of amazement and horror as the corridors were soon filled with coy students, until she felt someone push into her from behind, effectively locking her on the spot.

"Sorry, someone pushed me!" The male voice was all too familiar and Jane went cherry red as she faced Carlos. "What's going on?" He pushed at the sides of the bubble, able to move his arms but his feet were rooted to the place beneath the innocent looking greenery.

"Mom." Jane explained with a sigh. "She enchanted all the mistletoe so it would help True Love get a head start on Valentine's day." She shrugged.

"Oh…" Carlos could feel the heat in his cheeks rising as he realised what this implicated for him and Jane. His mind was awhirl with thoughts, was it one sided, was True Love ever one sided? Did that mean Jane liked him too, wait True Love, that only happened to Princes and Princesses… maybe the odd Evil Fairy offspring, but it didn't happen to the son of a loony business woman. Apparently it did; his feet were truly stuck.

"So, you ready?" Jane had also been dealing with internal conflict, and she decided to be pragmatic. She might as well kiss Carlos and then she could go to her mother and shout at her for embarrassing her hideously.

"Err, yeah sure." Carlos said in a panicked voice. "Do you want me to put my hands on your waist…. Or…. I'll be quiet." Carlos gabbled, flushing an impossibly deep shade of red and Jane felt a pang of sympathy for the white haired boy opposite her. So his nerves might be greater than hers, and if that was the case it could be hours before he plucked up the courage to kiss her.

"Carlos." Jane interrupted his tangling mess of thoughts. "Keep calm and kiss me." Jane closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his. As the pair of them fell into the stunning pleasure of their kiss, neither would see Jay and Lonnie smirking at the pair of them as their kiss became all the more heated.

"Well True Love will have a field day on Valentines with the pair of them." Lonnie chuckled. "Now, where's my kiss?"

"You want something?" Jay cockily raised an eyebrow, and Lonnie's expression soon mirrored his.

"Yes I damn well do, I don't expect mistletoe to help us, now kiss me." She all but demanded, though Jay was always happy to obey her.


	14. Christmas Eve

A/N: Hello lovelies! The last chapter in this seasonal collection!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Christmas Eve Magic**

It has been many years since Mal had deserted the Isle. There had been a number of Christmases gone by with Ben in Auradon, with Evie and Doug, Jane and Carlos, Jay and Lonnie, even with Audrey and Chad. None with her mother. Her mother had finally become human again but she had taken one long look at her daughter, curled her lip in disgust and was removed back to the Isle.

Mal had woken late into Christmas Eve night, looked at her sleeping husband, pulled her warm dressing gown from the hook by the door and padded her way onto the balcony. She had chosen this bedroom, and Ben lamented her choice daily, regardless of the eight or so years they had spent in this castle. It was one of the tallest turrets with the best view of Auradon, with a balcony that ran all the way around, giving her views all the way to Agrabah and then to the Isle. Mal didn't want to tell Ben that it was her dragon instinct that made her reach for the highest turret, that her instinct was to flap her wings and leap from the stone walls. In the time she had been a Royal of Auradon she had turned dragon very few times, and normally only for good reasons. Self-preservation or saving friends, she was a good dragon and the thought always made her chuckle.

But now, beneath a blanket of stars she stared across to the huddle of lights that represented the Isle. While Evie had worked her damned hardest to pull the kids off the Isle not all of them had wanted to come to Auradon, and not all of them had deserved it. It had been a year or so into the Refugee Programme that one of the Frollo twins had been sent back to the Isle. It had almost shaken the foundations of Evie's project but she took a tougher stance to kids determined to bring the Isle over to Auradon. The Frollo in question had tried to steal the Genie's lamp but that was one item that had been almost worthless, the Genie having been freed before Aladdin's wedding. His awareness of his old home and it's safety was the only reason they had caught the Frollo red-handed. That had been a hard year to be an old Isle girl.

Staring wistfully out across the bay, Mal fiddled with her wedding and engagement rings, she let out a soft sigh, her breath misting out in the icy weather. Tugging the fabric closer to her Mal sat up on the stone balcony and swung her legs over the edge, dangling them in a way that she would have shouted at one of her kids for.

Closing her eyes, Mal concentrated and held out her hand. Closing her palm she focused her energy, feeling the familiar pull of magic and opening both her eyes and her fingers there was a merry green tinged flame dancing in her hand and she smiled at the sight.

She had given up the grimoire ages ago, but she had realised that magic danced inside of her and if she didn't release it safely, it could be dangerous if it was to build inside of her. Ben hadn't been happy, but when she had turned to Fairy Godmother the old fae had agreed that small doses of magic would help Mal control the fire beneath her skin. Ben had grudgingly accepted it, and even he was thankful on icy cold State Visits for Mal's extra heat. With practice she could chase a warm glow over the surface her skin, keeping her toasty warm while others shivered around her.

"Still doing magic?" Ben's soft voice didn't startle her and she turned to smile at her husband.

"Still whingeing?" She said lightly, budging up as he joined her on the balcony.

"It's bloody freezing." He nudged her shoulder with his and in response, Mal held his hand, concentrating briefly to share her heat with him. "Muuuch better." He wrapped his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. "Why are you out here?"

"It's Christmas Eve, thought I'd keep an eye out for Santa." Mal murmured, and no sooner had she spoken than a star shot across the sky. "See, there he goes." She nods as Ben chuckles.

"Come back to bed." He whispered and Mal stared up at him with a smile.

"What's in it for me?"

"My warmth and an early Christmas gift." Ben said saucily.

"I'll take my present." She shifted back onto the firm stone of the balcony and closed the cold winter evening out of their bedroom as Christmas Morning quietly crept in.


End file.
